Happy Reading!
Books- July 2012
1.
A beginner's good-bye by Anne Tyler
2.
Little gale gumbo by Erika Marks
3.
Nightlife by Thomas Perry
4.
Bakers towers by Jennifer Haigh
5.
The Meryl Streep movie club by Mia March
6.
A confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
7.
Jane Austen made me do it edited by Laurel Ann Nattress
8.
The invisible bridge by Julie Oringer (audio book)
9.
Girls in white dresses by Jennifer Close
10.
Remember me? By Sophie Kinsella
11.
Beach girls by Luanne Rice
12.
The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes
13.
My name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira (audio book)
14.
Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children by Ransom
Riggs
1.
Anne Tyler is simply superb! The story of
Aaron’s first year after losing his wife Dorothy to a freak accident (a large
branch fell on their house during a storm), this is so simple, yet so very
complex. Told in Aaron’s voice, the level of grief is palpable as Aaron
negotiates both old and new relationships. I would read anything Anne Tyler
writes.
2.
This was a quick read about a family of women
who move from New Orleans to Maine to escape an abusive husband/father. But, it
was also a story of A loves B, B loves C, C loves D, etc. Why do they all have
to be living with unrequited love?
3.
We read this for book club. It was fast paced,
with tons of characters. It took me a little while to figure out who was the
main good guy (actually good woman!). While I liked this, I would not go out of
my way to read Thomas Perry again.
4.
Bakers Towers is set in Western Pennsylvania in
a mining community that thrives in the early part of the 20th
century and then slides into oblivion in the middle of the century. Following
the siblings in one family, Haigh manages to make all of them somewhat
unlikable, even the ones who are upstanding. While the historical references
were well-done, this was not a pleasant book to read.
5.
Four women come back together when one is dying
of cancer. Every Friday night they watch another Meryl Streep movie and there
are endless good ones from which to choose. I loved the premise of the book and
then reading how the author thought about the themes of the movies and worked
to blend these with the lives of the women. Nicely done!
6.
Recommended by my brother who read this in a
book club, I enjoyed this book full of nonsense. As Kip described it, the main
character (Ignatius Reilly) is a fat slob with few redeeming characteristics.
Many story lines run somewhat separately, but all come together in the end and Ignatius
ends the book as self-deluded as he began it. Hilarious!
7.
Short stories all based on either Jane Austen
herself, or one of her books. While it is always fun to read about Austen, this
was not very well done.
8.
This was quite long and I found the story to be
a little contrived. The story of the three Levi brothers from Budapest,
starting in the late 1930s. It follows these men and their love interests
through work camps and the war. Great details of history.
9.
When I started reading this book, I was not too
interested. But, as I got into it, the book grew on me. This is a series of
stand alone short stories with interconnected characters; young women fresh out
of college, living in large cities and negotiating work and relationships. Very
well done!
10. Another
Sophie Kinsella. I liked this better than Confessions of a Shopaholic, but not
as much as I’ve Got Your Number. The situations Kinsella’s characters get into
are so real, but ones that you do not often see in books. If you read this, you
will laugh out loud!
11. I
like Luanne Rice as a good chick lit writer and she did not disappoint here.
This was a perfect read during vacation!
12. Trying
to up my reading list a little bit, I checked out this book, the winner of the
Man Booker Prize. The reviews suggest that while it is short, it is something
that you might need to read more than one time. I agree and may choose to read
this again in the next few months. Though-provoking and well-written.
13. Another
historical novel, based on a woman who wants to become a doctor during the
Civil War. Mary Sutter leaves her home in Albany to go to Washington DC and
doctor the myriad of wounded. Listening to this was difficult as the injuries
and treatments (primarily amputations) were recounted with gory and unstinting
detail. Mary was a great character and was rendered as a woman with a
multi-faceted personality.
14. A
young adult novel that is quite sophisticated in its telling and in the
content. As I generally do not like fantasy, this was not a good choice for me,
but I thought it was well-done. It also seemed to be set up to have at least
one sequel. It seems to have caught the eye of many readers, wonder if we will
be hearing about a movie soon?
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